Many methods have been suggested for utilizing biofuel for energy production in order to compensate for at least a portion of the fossil fuel currently used in such energy production, and thereby also decrease net CO2 emissions in the overall energy production cycle. See, e.g., Huber et al., “Synthesis of Transportation Fuels from Biomass: Chemistry, Catalysts, and Engineering,” Chem. Rev., vol. 106, pp. 4044-4098, 2006.
Unfortunately, biofeedstocks are generally considered to be low energy fuels, and not easily utilized for energy production. The high oxygen and corresponding low energy content of biomass renders it generally inadequate for high-efficiency production of energy, such as high-temperature, high-pressure steam or electricity. Additionally, non-uniformity in the raw material (i.e., biomass), differences in its quality, and other similar hard-to-control variations, may cause problems in an energy production cycle that relies heavily on such fuel. See, e.g., McKendry, “Energy production of biomass (part 1): overview of biomass,” Bioresource Technology, vol. 83, pp. 37-46, 2002.
In view of the foregoing, methods that can enhance the efficiency of biofuel production by reducing the oxygen content of biomass and/or symbiotically-integrating the production of biofuel with other non-biofuel producing processes, would be a notable advance in economically-favorable biofuel production.